A writer recounts the sexual and emotional abuse she suffered as a child in this debut memoir that offers encouragement and support to other victims.
Moreno grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, a Milwaukee suburb. She describes her family life during her early childhood years: “We were close, we were happy, and it all seemed to be normal.” Still, the picture she paints is one of a seriously dysfunctional family controlled by a self-indulgent, domineering father. According to the author, when she was 7 years old, her father’s brother, who was then in his 20s, began sexually molesting her, introducing her to a game he called “horsey.” The abuse continued for two years until Moreno’s mother discovered what was happening. At this point, the author’s uncle and paternal grandparents had been living with her and her parents. He was forced to move out, causing serious fissures in the extended family. Moreno then worked with a psychotherapist and was moving forward. But, when she was in her early teens, her mother began working outside the home; her father, a serial philanderer, used this opportunity to force her to watch pornographic movies with him. She was afraid to tell anyone. Eventually, her father walked out on her and her mother, cleaning out their bank accounts, canceling Moreno’s credit card, and leaving behind a pile of unpaid bills, including two mortgages on the house. Some uneven prose and repetition undercut the strength of the narrative. But the author does a fine job of portraying herself as a strong survivor and role model, urging victims to take charge of their lives and, most especially, remove themselves from dangerous relationships. She writes: “You, as the victim, need to have the willingness and strength to make the necessary changes to survive.” She clearly details the steps that should be taken in order to make a safe escape, and she provides a helpful list of websites and agencies that can deliver assistance. There is also a section devoted to people she calls “bystanders,” those who may be able to supply aid.
An honest and informative account with well-organized, useful advice for the abused.Pub Date: April 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-982226-62-6
Page Count: 108
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Noted jazz and pop record producer Thiele offers a chatty autobiography. Aided by record-business colleague Golden, Thiele traces his career from his start as a ``pubescent, novice jazz record producer'' in the 1940s through the '50s, when he headed Coral, Dot, and Roulette Records, and the '60s, when he worked for ABC and ran the famous Impulse! jazz label. At Coral, Thiele championed the work of ``hillbilly'' singer Buddy Holly, although the only sessions he produced with Holly were marred by saccharine strings. The producer specialized in more mainstream popsters like the irrepressibly perky Teresa Brewer (who later became his fourth wife) and the bubble-machine muzak-meister Lawrence Welk. At Dot, Thiele was instrumental in recording Jack Kerouac's famous beat- generation ramblings to jazz accompaniment (recordings that Dot's president found ``pornographic''), while also overseeing a steady stream of pop hits. He then moved to the Mafia-controlled Roulette label, where he observed the ``silk-suited, pinky-ringed'' entourage who frequented the label's offices. Incredibly, however, Thiele remembers the famously hard-nosed Morris Levy, who ran the label and was eventually convicted of extortion, as ``one of the kindest, most warm-hearted, and classiest music men I have ever known.'' At ABC/Impulse!, Thiele oversaw the classic recordings of John Coltrane, although he is the first to admit that Coltrane essentially produced his own sessions. Like many producers of the day, Thiele participated in the ownership of publishing rights to some of the songs he recorded; he makes no apology for this practice, which he calls ``entirely appropriate and without any ethical conflicts.'' A pleasant, if not exactly riveting, memoir that will be of most interest to those with a thirst for cocktail-hour stories of the record biz. (25 halftones, not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-508629-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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